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West Branch got a measure of revenge on Friday with its win over Mediapolis after the Bulldogs knocked the Bears out of the Class 1A playoffs last season.

Much more importantly West Branch got a road win over a district opponent and took a big step toward a return to the postseason.

Andy Henson ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns and Kinnick Boelk caught the go-ahead touchdown pass from his brother Carver Boelk in the fourth quarter as West Branch rallied for a 24-21 win over Mediapolis in a District 5 showdown in Mediapolis.

The win was the third straight for West Branch and improved the Bears to 4-1 on the season and 2-0 in District 5 play while Mediapolis dropped to 3-2 and 0-2 with its second consecutive loss.

West Branch did a majority of its damage on the ground on Friday as Henson helped the Bears pile up 224 yards on the ground but the biggest play of the game was a pass.

Carver Boelk hit Kinnick Boelk for a 6-yard touchdown pass on a third-and-5 play with 3:50 left to give West Branch a 24-21 lead.

The touchdown strike capped a 10-play, 83-yard scoring strike for the Bears that came after Mediapolis scored 14 unanswered points to take a 21-17 lead.

West Branch scored points on its final three drives of the first half to take a 17-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Henson capped a 12-play, 49-yard march with a 16-yard run that gave West Branch an early 7-0 lead.

Wyatt Fiderlein drilled a 36-yard field goal to make it 10-0 West Branch and the Henson gave the Bears a 17-7 lead when he scored on a 2 yard run with two seconds left in the opening half.

Mediapolis had touchdown drives of 54 and 56 yards to take a 21-17 lead before West Branch put together its best drive of the game.

Carver Boelk ran for 11 yards on third-and-three to keep the drive alive and three plays later hit brother Kinnick with the go-ahead touchdown.

Peyton Miller had a pair of receptions for 26 yards and Henson carried three times for 27 yards on the drive.

Henson finished with 172 yards on 31 carries while Carver Boelk passed for 67 yards and rushed for 42 yards.

Kinnick Boelk led West Branch with six tackles while Fiderlein ahd 5.5 stops and Henson had 4.5 including 1.5 for loss and recovered a fumble.

Logan Wright had a sack among his 1.5 tackles for loss.

WB                 MED

First downs                 16                    13

Rushes-yards              42-224             34-212

Comp-Att-Int              6-12-0             5-7-0

Passing yards              73                    100

Total yards                  297                  312

Punts-avg.                   3-32.7              2-31

Fumbles-lost               2-1                   1-1

Penalties-yards           9-50                 6-50

West Branch              7  10  0  7  –  24

Mediapolis                0   7   7  7  –  21

WB – Andy Henson 16 run (Wyatt Fiderlein kick)

WB – Fiderlein 36 field goal

WB – Henson 2 run (Fiderlein kick)

WB – Kinnick Boelk 6 pass from Carver Boelk (Fiderlein kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING – West Branch: Andy Henson 31-172, Carver Boelk 8-42, Peyton Miller 2-11, Wyatt Fiderlein 1-1.

PASSING – West Branch: Carver Boelk 5-11-0 67, Andy Henson 1-1-0 6.

RECEIVING – West Branch: Peyton Miller 2-26, Kinnick Boelk 2-13, Brady Hunger 1-28, Carver Boelk 1-6

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